A Different Approach to Poverty Reduction in Kenya's Informal Settlements: The Urgency Post-COVID-19

Abstract

The United Nations (UN) created Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to reach by 2030, on behalf of the poor around the world. The first goal is eradication of extreme poverty. Statistics from The World Bank measure global progress. As of 2019 (pre COVID-19), the development community was not on track to meet the goal, and poverty was increasing in most countries of Africa. The situation has been exacerbated by COVID-19. Foreign aid and development organizations are looking for different approaches to reduce extreme poverty. I hypothesize a disconnect existed pre-pandemic and persists post-pandemic regarding what works and what does not work to reduce extreme poverty in the informal settlements (slums). This dissertation seeks to bridge the disconnect through comparison of perceptions by development professionals and residents of the informal settlement of Mukuru in Nairobi, Kenya on the effectiveness of development programs. The methodology includes interviews with development professionals and community-led surveys with residents of Mukuru. Paulo Freire’s theory of critical consciousness is applied in themed survey questions to residents of Mukuru to foster clear understandings of poverty issues. The goal is to gain knowledge on the role critical consciousness of the residents plays in the disconnect between perceptions of effectiveness and actual effectiveness and discover the conditions necessary for successful development in informal settlements.